It was a Memorial Day weekend to keep in mind within the Rotondo dwelling in Middletown, the joyous celebration constructing Sunday afternoon earlier than erupting because the checkered flag waved on the large display screen.

It coincided with Nicole Rotondo tossing her headset within the air from a timing stand at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as driver Marcus Ericsson’s automotive, powered by the Honda engine overseen by Rotondo, a 28-year-old trackside race engineer, crossed the bricks on the start-finish line to win the Indianapolis 500.

“I’m undecided I used to be even respiration at that time,” stated Rotondo.

Rotondo’s a pioneer, among the many first feminine trackside engineers ever to serve in that function with an Indy 500-winning group, the newest accomplishment in a journey the started in Monmouth County.

“My husband (Wealthy) has all the time been within the mechanical discipline,” stated Nicole’s mother, Stacy. “She was all the time proper there. “Dad, how does that work and the way does this work?” She has all the time been our curiosity child.”

That curiosity was the inspiration for what has been a fast rise within the sport.

“I all the time had an curiosity in vehicles and engines,” she stated. “My dad is a mechanic by commerce, so we grew up engaged on all types of engines. Boats, vehicles, tractors he picked up on the facet of the highway. A bit of little bit of every little thing. However I’ve all the time been curious about vehicles and racing and stuff like that.”

Now Rotondo, a mechanical engineer by commerce, is on a motorsports profession path she’s envisioned for the previous decade.

“It’s been like a dream come true,” she stated.

Stars align

It’s known as “the Biggest Spectacle in Racing” for a purpose, and the strain constructed all through the afternoon as Rotondo monitored the efficiency of the motor in Ganassi Racing’s No. 8 automotive, which had an almost three-second lead because the laps had been winding down.

Then NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson, in his first season racing Indy vehicles, wrecked with six laps to go, leading to a pink flag that introduced the motion to a standstill.

“It turns into very, very hectic,” Rotondo stated. “We had a reasonably stable hole and when that pink flag hits it’s a completely totally different ballgame and all people could be very wired. When the engines run that scorching after which they sit in pit lane that lengthy you’ll be able to have bother together with your engine overheating, your electronics overheating. You simply hope the automotive fires again up once more every little thing is operating proper. And now you’re going to have somebody proper in your bumper and also you hope we get this man on the restart.”

Ericsson finally held off driver Pato O’Ward in what turned out to be a two-lap showdown to win the 106th renewal.

It wasn’t preordained that Rotondo could be on this place. She truly studied marine biology in highschool on the Marine Academy of Science and Know-how in Highlands.

“I spotted that was not likely my calling,” she stated. “I used to be like, “you already know what I actually like? Engaged on vehicles with my dad. I feel I wish to be a mechanic.” And he was having completely none of that. He stated you’re going to get a level, and mechanical engineering was the subsequent step.”

So Rotondo selected Rochester Institute of Know-how, which provided an automotive possibility that included courses coping with excessive efficiency autos, in addition to an SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) race group she turned concerned with.

Whereas Rotondo joined Nissan’s physique design group in Detroit after commencement, she was all the time in search of a path into motorsports. So she entered a program known as the Infiniti Engineering Academy, a contest the place engineers from totally different international locations compete for a spot working with Infiniti in Europe and with the Renault Formulation One racing group.

“I made it to the finals however obtained beat out, and the woman that beat me out was so deserving,” Rotondo stated. “We’re nonetheless pals and she or he truly got here out to rejoice with us after the five hundred.

“However I used to be sitting on the airport completely defeated on my means dwelling from that program, and the commercial for this job popped up in an alert I had arrange. It was every little thing that I used to be in search of. They had been in search of folks with SAE expertise and energy prepare expertise and individuals who needed to be trackside. The celebs aligned I assume.”

She joined Honda Efficiency Growth as an assistant trackside race engineer in 2019.   

“An unimaginable place to be in”

By Rotondo’s personal admission, the entire Indy 500 scene “is rather a lot to course of,” from the large crowd to the bands and flyover by the U.S. Air Power Thunderbirds. This 12 months the hoopla concluded with Ericsson consuming milk in Victory Lane, a longstanding custom for the winner.

Now, her plans for any downtime at her dwelling in Detroit embrace engaged on an previous Honda bike she’s rebuilding. As a result of despite the fact that most of her work these days is completed on a laptop computer, she nonetheless likes to get her arms soiled.

“The engine I work on now’s undoubtedly a category above something I ever labored on rising up,” she stated. “But it surely actually all comes all the way down to the identical fundamentals. Engines are simply air and gas mixtures and the timing of getting that combination. So whether or not you’re doing it mechanically with a wrench or altering these ratios with a laptop computer, it’s the identical primary concept.

”My job has an enormous quantity of duty, however I’ve a large amount of help from Honda. I’m the one on the timing stand who will get to make the decision when it comes all the way down to the engine, which could be a little daunting. But it surely’s additionally an unimaginable place to be in.”

After ending sixth within the standings final season, the No. 8 automotive tops the factors leaders after six races. And to be a part of a year-end championship group could be one other step in what has already been a groundbreaking profession for Rotondo.